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Here's a question for parents: How often have you thought — or heard someone say — something to the effect that, "Yes, I'm aware that there are serious problems with our public school system, but my child's school is just fine"?
Yes, it is a system — a system largely run by and for Education Minnesota, the teachers union. From that standpoint, it may well be a system that is doing just fine. It may not be doing what it was originally designed to do, but in many respects it is doing exactly just what it is currently designed to do.
Parents were given a glimpse into the public school system's inner workings during the COVID-induced shutdowns. Many didn't care much for what they saw. How else to account for school board elections heating up around the state this fall? Is it really a case of book burners, racists and Christian nationalists on the march? Much more likely, parents of all backgrounds and views have finally, if reluctantly, come to the conclusion that things may not be "just fine" in their local school after all.
There comes a time in the history of every institution when a crossroads is reached and serious questions have to be asked by those in charge — or by others who seek to be in charge. Are we on the right path? Are we on the originally intended path? Is it time for some sort of course correction? Or is it simply time to stop doing what we're doing and chart a new course altogether?
A year ago, our governor ran for re-election on a campaign that included a pledge to "fully fund" our K-12 system, whatever that might mean. Any hint of even minimal reform was nowhere to be found. More money was the only answer. It always is.
Speaking of money, there's something fundamentally amiss about a system in which a union gives money to politicians, who then decide, directly or indirectly, the salaries of union members.